Remembering Names

BY JACK DIONNE

One of the most priceless cttributes of c successlul sclesmcn is the cbility to remember the ncunes of the people he meets. There is nothing much the cvercge mcn-or womcrn-likes better or crpprecictes more, thcn to have the other fellow ccll his n<rme the moment they meet.

With some men the cbility to remember ncmes is c gilt; with others it is the result of interuilied study cnd eflort,'crnd with still others it is both. The crvercrge mcm tckes whctever llcir ncrture or providence ltcve him lor remembering ncmes correctly, crnd cdds to it some method or plcn lor tying the right nqmes to the right lcces.

Once I strw cr m- rise in c meeting mcrde up ol men lrom every state in the union, cnd ccrll the ncme -d residence ol every mcn" dter they hcrd lirst qnswered roll ccll, giving their names crnd home cities. They were cll strcurgers to him, but he cclled them cll with only the slightest hesitcrtion now cnrd then" To me ihis was close to c mirqcle, crlthough I used to be mighty good crt re-' membering nqmes, nyseU.

Some men, who speci<rlize in never forgetting <r nqme, refuse to qdmit it when they crre stumped. I once scw cr delighilul demonstrction of thcrt sort, given by cr lumber iournclist ol the old school, who hcd c grect repuiction lor remembering ncmes. He wcs Bolling Arthur Johnson" ol Chiccgo. He knew ctn crtxny of men cll over the nction, cnd he never crdmitted that he couldn't reccll cr ncrme.

About thirty yecrrs cgo Bolling Arthur cmd myself were wcrlking down street in c Southern city, when we met cr big, smiling, bcss-voiced mcn. (Iohnson wcs cr big, f<rt mcnr urith a bcrss voice, clso). The newcomer lell on Johnsonjs neck with loud cries oI delight at the chqnce meeting. He was SO glcrd to see his old, decr lriend Bolling Arthur cg<rin, you'd think they were long-lost brothers. lohnson replied in the scme enthusiqstic wcry. Dcrnron and Pythicrs couldn't hcve been hcrppier crt meeting. Finclly they got tired pumping hcrnds crnd slcpping bccks cmd rocring their greetings, cnd the strcurger scrid: "Bolling Arthur, why didn't you send those pictures you promised me?" "But I DID send them," Johnson promptly replied. "You did? Where on ecnth did you send them io?" asked the strcrnger. "To Pittsburgh," cgcin promptly replied my lriend Johnson "But why on ecrrth did you send them to Pittsburgh?" csked the other, cppcrently mystilied. "Beccuse thct's where you told me to send them, crnd so I senl them there," scdd Johnson, delinitely. "Well" scrid the strcnger, ':I MUST hcrve been drunk." "You certcdnly were" replied Johnson.

With more protesicrtions ol lriendship on both sides, they lincrlly pcrrted. And cs the big strcrnger walked oII down the street, Johnson stood curd wqtched him go, perplexity plcrinly stcrmped upon his lcrce. 'Tack," he scrid to me, fincrlly, "Who do you reckon thct big so-crnd-so is, <rnd where do you reckon I ever scw him belore?"